Beach beach galore

We’re slowly settling into some kind of a rhythm.  In the mornings we walk around town, look at the shops, or do grocery shopping.   Antibes has small streets that exude a different charm from Spain, just as picturesque but none of the grittiness that I had mentioned before – no graffiti, no pee – just that upscale, resort feeling with boutiques and cafes with colorful awnings.   I wonder where on the scale Nice and Cannes will fall, seeing as they are much larger cities.

In the afternoons, Marco works and I either read or nap.  Then we go to the beach.  So far we’ve gone to a different beach each day.  The first was la Gravette, the closest one to our apartment, reached through a tunnel at the base of the city walls.   It’s really a little cove, circled with small rocks that shield it from the rest of the ocean and making the water very calm to swim in.  The only thing I disliked was that the beach was very pebbly and not nice to walk upon, and even worse when you are wading into the water.

Today we took a little tram to the neighboring town, Juan le Pins.  The beaches there were much nicer; white, smooth sand and aqua water that was surprisingly warmer than la Gravette.  The difference was that much of the beach was claimed by restaurants, which allowed you to rent their private loungers by the hour.  The public parts of the beach were few and sparse, but at least they were there. 

Side note – we also finally tasted fresh French bread, hot from the oven.  Biting into that loaf was really heavenly – crunchy on the outside, and warm and soft on the inside.  Marco and I devoured about half of it before we even got home!!

Leaving Barca

The morning that we were to drive from Barcelona to Antibes, France was the morning which we failed to wake up with the alarm.  But other than a late start, everything was quite smooth aside from the GPS battery not charging properly in the car unless I held it at exactly the right angle, and really gusty winds as we skirted the Pyrenees (enough to sway the car in the lane if we went over 80mph).  But seeing that it is a cross country drive in a foreign land, I consider that very smooth sailing.    

France!!

Much of the drive was extremely picturesque, either tree covered mountains or vast stretches of Tuscany like farmland.   

     

We rented a manual car because an automatic would have cost double, so poor Marco had to do all the driving.  My lessons in Spain were definitely not enough for me to go out on the highway!  We broke up the 6 hour drive with two lovely stops, one at Narbonne, and the other at Aix-en-Provence.

Narbonne was charming, with a small river and a huge cathedral.  What I will remember most clearly though, are the softest, gooiest and most delicious pistachio macaroons that I have ever tasted.  They really were amazing.  (I have now tried macaroons in 3 different French cities and this was by far and away the best!)

Because it was a Sunday afternoon, most places were closed and we had quite a difficult time finding a café for lunch.  And no surprises that when it was found, the owners only spoke French.   I found making the switch from Spanish extremely difficult, as I tried desperately to call to mind the phrases that I had learned in high school.  But despite any halting progress I made, I repeatedly and reflexively said “Si, si” and “Muy bien” at every turn, and even threw in a few “gracias” for good measure at those poor French owners.  No doubt that’s exactly what they were expecting after looking at me.

When we went to Aix-en-Provence, I did a quick google search and decided that the calle Mirabeau is the must visit spot, as well as the famous café des garcons which was frequented by Cezanne and a host of other celebrities.  However, despite going around and around, we were quite unable to find it and settled instead for a little café on the corner of a nice square.  I ordered a delicious aperitif, my first taste of the wine in Provence, Marco had his usual beer, and we split an apricot jam crepe.   A lady came around with small platters of complimentary olives and other snacks, including some small hot-dogs in warm phyllo puff-pastry.   It just shows how skeptical of a tourist Spain has left me because I was absolutely convinced that they were going to charge us for them! 

We caught sight of a double rainbow when we left Aix-en-Provence!  My first ever sighting, but I wasn’t quite as excited as that guy on you-tube. (IF you look carefully, you can see a second, faint rainbow above the clearer one).

Beach 5 mins walk from our place

The best part of the day probably was our apartment in Antibes.  After the damp, musty, bare apartment in Barcelona, I was a little nervous at what we were going to have to put up with for 3 weeks in France.  However, a spacious one bedroom greeted me, with a truly fully stocked kitchen (including all the necessary ingredients), comfy sofa, dining table, a delicious looking patio with chairs and table, and automatic blinds that came down and blocked out every ray of light.  Can you believe that in Barcelona, we were not even provided with salt and pepper?  And every single thing in that kitchen was from Ikea, including a set of flimsy knives that barely cut vegetables.  Our next delight was the shower, which streamed powerful water and not the limp excuse that we’ve been experiencing lately.   When you are traveling, these small things make a very big difference! I can already see that this leg of our trip is going to be the best!!

More Gaudi

I think if I spent my entire trip just tracking down pieces of Gaudi's architecture across Barcelona, I would have had a great time.  He is such a genius that he really does transform an ordinary apartment into something from another world, a dragon from the outside and an underwater kingdom once you step into the threshold.

View from the center of the house,
which opened up to let in as much light as possible into each room

We were absolutely enchanted with Casa Batllo, which was exactly this apartment that Gaudi designed for a lucky businessman in Barcelona on one of the most desirable avenues at the time for the nuveau riche to flaunt their newly acquired wealth.  Gaudi threw himself so heart and soul into the project that he even designed the wallpaper, the furniture, and the space on the roof.

I hope some of these photos will go part of the way to capture the eccentric beauty of this strange and fantastical house:

Another Gaudi that we visited is definitely my favorite of his work, from the moment that I saw it on my last trip in 2009.  Parque Guell was designed for a one of Gaudi's wealthy friends and is located at one of the highest points in the city.  Gaudi actually moved on site and lived there for over 20 years while he oversaw the completion of the fabulous park.  What amazes me is how many structures and designs that you stumble upon as you make your way through the park - it's almost like unraveling secrets one after another.

The use of these blocks of stone was very characteristic
of his work in the park

As always, colorful mosaics showed up in nearly all his work

 

Try Try Again

Our trip in Barcelona can probably best be summed up with this title.  There were at least two destinations where we had to return at least 3 times before it was open.  One of them was the Plaza Espanya, where from the palace at the top of the stairs you can look down to an amazing fountain and from there down to one of the largest round-abouts and avenues of the city.  The view is pretty incredible, especially at night.

However, unfortunately (or I guess it could be fortunately if you liked cars a lot), there was an auto-show while we were there that chose to take place bang smack in the heart of all that was worth seeing in that plaza, and also completely blocking our entry to see the fountain.  We had to return twice before figuring out that they only allowed in tourists at 9pm to see the fountain show.  Luckily for us, our ride up to the mountains of Montserrat also gave us 7 free rides on the metro so we didn't spend a fortune in transporting ourselves from one closed monument to another.  [I will post some photos later]

The second spot is a bar called El Xampanyet.  It is on the same street as the Picasso museum, but for some strange reason, it closes at an ungodly early hour for a bar.  So the first three times that we went there, it was closed because it was a Monday, and then the latter two because we fancied a drink at 11pm.  Good grief.  And when it's closed, it becomes so dark and the entrance is already so small that we always miss it completely and wander around hopelessly looking for the thing that is right under our noses.  And to think that it's rated as one of Europe's best bars!  The reason I was dying to go so much was because it was where I went on my last trip 5 years ago with my friend Marina, who told me that it was one of her best kept secrets and not to leak it to anyone for fear that it would be over-run with tourists.  I guess tourists will sniff out Cava (a.k.a Spanish champagne) for only 1.20 euro even if it is a secret.  Eventually we did make it while it was open, and it was incredibly crowded with tourists - a marked difference from 5 years ago.  However, that glass of Cava remained just as good and refreshing, and only about 20 centimes pricier!

But because of our persistence with going to Xampanyet, we also ended up trying the tapas restaurant across the street that had been recommended to us, which we probably wouldn't have actually sought out on our-own after being so tired with taps.  The place is called Tapeo - and Marco and I found this to be the most delightful Tapas bar in all of Spain! Better than anything we had tried in Sevilla AND Madrid.  The Rabo de Toro (bull-tail) was so tender that it practically fell apart, and the foam of Catalan Creme (like a creme brulee) is the only food foam that Marco likes.  And the service was also impeccable, despite it being very busy.  The waitress actually listened (although I saw the shock in her eyes) when I said that I did not want any olive oil over the food and we did not want anything fried.  We liked it so much that we even went back the next day, and I even ate something fried for once!! Even that was delightful, and I haven't really gone for fried food for years.

So I guess all in all, that old adage does apply in Barcelona -- if you find something closed, do try try again!!

Vegas > Me

Sorry this post is out of sequence.  We have left Vegas for 3 weeks now, but I have to make up for some lost time!!

VEGASSSSS - yeah I'm definitely excited to be back to the Flossy Flossy.  The last trip was way too short - I didn't even get to enjoy the pool.  Well, I'm definitely setting that straight this time around and making sure that I get my tan back on after the 10 days of freezing Chicago weather practically melted all of it off.   It's not going to be difficult with a pool like this!

Some highlights from the trip:

•   Going to see the Jabbawockeez - they were awesome!!!  I've been wanting to go ever since my last trip when I found out that they performed at the Monte Carlo.  If you're in Vegas - make this a stop for sure.  Electric choreography, great infusion of comedy and audience participation, hopping beats, this show has it all.  I also love that they are representing Asians out there on the Big Stage!!  If you think that their masks look creepy, their philosophy about them is bang on - it stops you from picking out a favorite in the crowd and only focusing on one dancer.  Instead, you are compelled to enjoy the whole of the dance.  Very gestalt.  But still, I would still rate Cirque Du Soleil's "Ka" higher - I don't think I've ever seen any set more intricately designed or eye-bogglingly spectacular. 

•   Getting to play beer-pong with Marco's bosses.  VPs and Directors of a fourtune 500 company going at it in their dress shirts and suit pants.  Enough said. 

• The fountain at the Bellagio is just amazing.  I don't think I'll ever get tired of standing out there, enjoying the swell of the music and the breezy droplets that mist the warm desert air.   The best things in life CAN be free!  

• I didn't get to walk around and enjoy many hotels last time at all, so this time we made sure to make up for lost time.  My favorites are the Bellagio and the Aria at the City Center.  Both were incredibly different; the Bellagio is classic and stately, with incredible floral decorations, whereas the Aria is a tour-de-force of futuristic angles, lights and colors. 

• Finally, a note about the gambling.  It all started wonderfully well at the airport, where I actually won money at the Slot-machines, which according to my friend, is "money-vomit."  However, riding on this wave of victory, I saw my demise as the slots at the hotel basically ate up all of my dollar bills, and then, ten dollar, and then twenty dollar bill as well.  Sigh.  So we decided to try out hand at Craps, which usually has the best odds in Vegas.  However, it was $20 a bet and in under 10 minutes, $100 also melted away.  It was only across the street at O'Sheas did we manage to win a respectable amount of our lost money back.  Screw you, Vegas!!! 

  

The Sagrada Familia

Photo credit: funzonecollector.blogspot.com

The last time I was in Barcelona was around 5 years ago.  I visited nearly all the great monuments and touristic sights - the Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, Plaza Espana, the Picasso museum.  I even took a day trip to Monserrat, which was an hour outside of the city, to see the monastery at the top of that mountain.  I regarded the city as one of the brightest and most beautiful in all of Europe, which was why I was determined for Marco to also experience it before our trip in Europe was over.

However, this time it is even more beautiful than my recollection.  When I was here last, it was in November and during the low season.  That was why many of the monuments were in the midst of repair and I could not enjoy them in their full splendor.  I think early May is perhaps the best time to be here - the high season has just started everything is at its best to welcome guests to the city, but not too many tourists have crowded into the city.  And the weather is just perfect.

We started the trip with visiting... the grocery market.  I'm not kidding!  It was important to get situated, and our apartment is just in a perfect location.  Next door to a convenience store, and within 2 blocks of 3 small supermarkets and a large in-door mercardo which was very similar to that we experienced in Sevilla.  Of course, the fact that we are living in the Barri Gotic, the downtown area of Barcelona, is nothing to be complained about either.

With our kitchen all in order, we set out to explore the city.  First we visited the most famous and celebrated landmark in the entire city, the Sagrada Familia.  It is Gaudi's master work, started towards the end of the 1800s and is not estimated to be fully completed until 40 years from now.  As we approached the massive cathedral, I noticed that huge changes had already occurred since my last visit.  The most remarkable change was that the spiky rooftops were adored with brightly colored, fruit-like ornamentation, totally unique from anything I had ever seen.


The cathedral has 3 main sides; one depicting the birth of Christ, which is swollen and resplendent in details; the second depicts the Passion of Christ and is full of harsh lines and sombre carvings to express the sadness of his passing; and the last is the glory facade, reflecting the coming and the end of mankind, and is yet unfinished.  When I was last here, there was much that was still undone on the Passion facade, and the interior was entirely draped with plastic coverings and piled to the top with scaffolding.

Photo credit: Alamy

No words could describe my amazement at the completeness of the carvings and sculptures on the exterior of the Passion facade, the polish of newness with which everything was finished.  Clearly, everything had a meaning,  from the strange carving of a square box with 9 numbers on one wall, to even the positioning of the facades (birth toward the east, death the west), Gaudi had planned his work down to the very last intricacy.

Photo credit to: Nicola Tomovic

 And when I stepped foot beyond the massive doors, upon which was adorned 40 languages all relaying the same message, I felt chills at the back of my neck.  It was as if I had entered a colossal forest of stone and brilliantly colored glass.  A strange and magical world was before me, almost something straight out of the imagination of Tolkien.







So much was reminiscent of nature, down to the gigantic supporting columns forking like tree branches at the ceiling, and the casing for elevators that curled down like tendrils of vines.

What I loved best were the multi-chromatic stained  glass windows, which were abstract and modern in appearance, and let through streams of warm, colored light that danced on the walls and floor of the church.  Gaudi had painstakingly designed this because he knew the vital importance of light inside the church - it could not be so bright that it blinded, or shroud the place in darkness.

Only through the central sky-light is the bright Mediterranean light allowed to freely shine through.  Tiny pieces of golden mosaic decorate the sky-light, and as they catch the light, the effect illuminates the main crucifix in a soft halo of gold, and the effect is pure magic.

I have always felt much closer to God when I am surrounded by nature than in a church, but this utterly unconventional church is the most perfect merging of the two that I have ever experienced.  

A Strange Flight

Despite somewhat of an odd 14 hours on the flight over to Europe, Barcelona has kicked off with an amazing start. However, before going on to cover the sunny Mediterranean city, I will give some brief account of what took place on that flight.

Most of it was spent flying during the nighttime in European time, so to get adjusted, Marco and I settled to sleep after being served dinner.  As usual, I plugged up my ears, covered my face with an eye-mask and buried under the coverlets and my fleece.  We even took a sleeping tablet each so as to ensure that we'd get a sound night's rest.  But no matter what I tried, I could not stop the flow of annoyingly loud conversation that was taking place in the aisle next to ours, two rows up from our seats.  A tall man stood at the end of the aisle, leaning on the corner, speaking and laughing very loudly to a woman who was seated at the end of that row.  Clearly his seat was not there, and he even had to elevate his voice in order for the sound to carry down to where she was sitting, seeing as she was quite short.

Finally, I could not take it any more and I got his attention.  I gestured and said that we were trying to sleep, and if he would mind speaking a little more quietly.  He stared at me for a little bit before saying in a very bizarre fashion, "I am already quiet."  At first I thought that it was just a turn of speech and that he had accepted the request, but I quickly realized that he did not mean to alter his behavior at all.  That was when Marco spoke up and repeated my words.  The man replied, this time not very happily at all, "The airplane is loud, the bathroom doors make noise, my talking does nothing."  I could hardly believe my ears!  How easy is it to simply lower his voice - was he really going to get into a confrontation with us?

Marco pressed on, and said that the doors and the airplane have no choice where as he does.  The man then argued that no one else around us had any complaint - which was true because they were all up watching movies and had headphones on.  I could just feel my blood boiling.  Finally, when Marco repeated his request for quiet, the man actually had the nerve to say, "No thank you."  I almost leapt out of my seat.  Instead, I did something better; I called the flight attendant over, and explained the ridiculous situation to her.  Amazingly, when she walked over to that hateful man, he actually said "I will not! They are just trying to use their power against me!"  Seriously - he said that.  What are we - in second grade? If I could open the doors to push him out of the plane I would have tried.  Never had I experienced such rudeness and resistance at so small a request.

Finally, he quietened down and eventually left.  The rest of the flight passed without incident until we landed.  But as soon as the flight was moving toward the gate, the flight attendant announced that there was a medical emergency on-board and that we weren't to leave our seats until expressly told to do so.  Marco and I had witnessed another one of these emergencies on a flight in the US, but it was no more than a lady being transported to a wheel-chair, looking a bit tired.  However, this time it was clearly different.

Various flight attendants were sprinting up and down the aisle, carrying all means of medical equipment and even an oxygen tank.  Clearly the matter was serious.  When we finally walked out of the plane, we could only use the passage on the left because they had laid the poor passenger down on the ground in other aisle and Marco and actually saw them performing CPR on her.  A quick question to the attendant clarified the situation - apparently it was alcohol poisoning!  Of all the strange cases to happen.  Apparently the passenger had boarded the plane already a bit inebriated and proceeded to drink herself silly on the flight.  And totally unbeknownst to me, air pressure when a plane is in flight causes alcohol to act much stronger and quicker on the system.   But now... CPR!  We left not knowing if she had made it or not.  But it was a good lesson to be had.

I'm so glad that I did not find out my bar exam results right before our flight!